Face Off
by NeverMindDream
Summary: Complete! Post 'Tanglewood'. Danny has to face some old demons when his childhood sweetheart makes an unexpected appearance. In the meantime, Danny, Aiden and Flack work an unusual case involving a severed face. Rated for violence. [DannyOC]
1. The Human Chicken

AN Okay, I figured since Dream has gone ahead and posted her stories sans my involvment, it's only fair that I post one of my own. I have no idea where this came from, but it turned out pretty good, I think. The 'B' story (which starts in this chapter)is actually better than the 'A' story, but hey, I'm a fangirl, I had to throw in some romance or it just wouldn't feel right! Please r&r! Thanks:oP NeverMind

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* * *

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**CSI:NY – Face Off**

©2005 NeverMind

"I love Central Park. The trees, the birds…"

"The bodies," CSI Aiden Burn finished for her partner, Danny Messer.

"It's good to get out of the office, don't you think?" he asked, his camera skillfully clicking away, capturing the scene of the crime. "What do we got?"

"ID says he's Raymond Wallace, age 28. Address in Hell's Kitchen," she told him.

"Hmm, my favorite vacation spot," Danny quipped as Aiden rolled her eyes. "Roll him over."

Aiden and an assistant ME rolled the dead man onto his back.

"Whoa," Danny exclaimed, unable to prevent his automatic recoil upon seeing the man's face. It was non-existent. There was nothing left but an oozing mass of tissue and maggots. He recovered quickly and snapped off a few pictures.

Aiden coughed to try to prevent herself from gagging. "Hard to match this ID to this mess," she observed in a choked voice.

"Man, I can't even tell if there's any teeth left for a dental ID," Danny said. "I got everything. Bag this guy before my partner passes out over here."

Aiden smacked him in the gut.

"Ow!"

"Stop being a brat and help me finish processing this scene," she told him as the ME zipped the bag over the body and removed him from the scene.

Danny grinned at her mischievously before stretching, cracking his neck and getting to work. He wandered the perimeter of the scene, placing markers near potential evidence and snapping off pictures.

Aiden was on her hands and knees near the grass where the body had lain. With a pair of long tweezers, she picked up a few leftover maggots that had fallen out of the man's head and put them into a clear container. "I hate maggots," she muttered under her breath.

"Hey, Aiden?" Danny called from the far corner of their crime scene.

"Yeah?"

"Could you come here a minute?"

She pulled herself off the ground and walked carefully over to where he was standing.

"What's up? – whoa!" she declared. "Oh, my god, that's disgusting," she said, turning away to catch her breath.

"I tell ya, I've heard of defacing property, but this is just ridiculous," Danny said, snapping photos of the man's missing face that was lying just under a bush. "You wanna bag that for me?" he asked.

"Not really, no," she answered, still cringing.

"Oh, come on, you gotta face your fears," he teased her.

She shuddered, but pulled out a large plastic bag out of Danny's kit. "You sure are taking this lightly," she told him as she eased the rotting face off the ground and into the bag.

"I have to, otherwise I'd be as grossed out as you," he said with a grin, continuing with his picture taking.

Detective Don Flack came over to where Aiden was crouched. "I see you found our vic's face," he stated calmly.

"Yeah. Still not very recognizable, but if this isn't the vic's we're in some real trouble."

"Man, I've heard of defacing property…"

"Already went there!" Danny called from a few feet away. "Any witnesses?"

Flack stood up and flipped open his notebook. "No one saw what happened, but the woman who found him literally tripped over him. Good thing he was face-down or she might still be screaming."

Aiden shuddered again, carefully writing on the label of the bag containing the face before handing it off to the assistant ME to include with the body. "Tell Hawkes, good luck," she told him.

"How long had he been here?" Flack asked.

"ME said maybe more than 24 hours," Danny said, "Which amazes me because there are so many regulars that come by this spot – joggers, dog walkers – you'd think they'd have noticed the same guy lying on the grass in the same position for two days in a row."

"You know New Yorkers," Flack said, "They never want to get involved. The woman who found him was trying to avoid a 'suspicious man' on the path. We tracked the guy down, turns out he's just a harmless homeless guy asking for spare change."

"Did he have anything useful to tell you?" Aiden asked.

"Nah, just babbled something about the government being out to get him. I don't think he's all there, if you know what I'm saying."

"Well, make sure we can still find him later, just in case," Danny warned.

"Shouldn't be a problem there. He lives at the shelter just across the street."

Aiden was picking up more maggots and putting them into containers. Flack couldn't help but laugh at the faces she was making. "You gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Bleh. I hate maggots," she said.

"Just wait till we get to dissect them," Danny told her.

"You can dissect them. I'll do everything else," she tried to bargain.

"Oh no, you gotta dissect the maggots with me. They're really cool. They absorb like, everything. They'll tell us more about this case than anything else."

"Wonderful," she grudged.

"You two take it easy. I'm gonna go pound the pavement for a while, see if I come up with anything," Flack said with a laugh, dismissing himself.

* * *

By the time ME Sheldon Hawkes called them to head over to the autopsy room, it was late evening and Danny and Aiden were comparing notes to make sure they hadn't missed anything.

"So, what have we got?" Danny asked Hawkes as they stood in front of their victim and his face.

"You know how chickens will keep running around for a while even after you cut off their heads?" Hawkes asked.

"Yeah..?" Danny prompted.

"Well, I think you're looking at a human chicken."

"A human chicken?" Aiden asked, dubious.

"Yeah. You say you found this guy's face a few feet behind where his body was laying? Was there any indication that he'd been moved?"

"No, but it's been a few days – the grass wasn't very accommodating in keeping its original patterns," Danny said.

"Was there a blood trail, though?" Hawkes persisted.

"No."

"That's what I thought. This guy has abrasions on his knees and his palms – consistent with someone falling forward and trying to break their fall. It's a natural reflex – even if you can't see, you automatically hold your hands out in front of you to brace yourself."

"So you think he ran from where his face was sliced off and fell down where we found him before he died?" Aiden asked.

"The bruises are peri-mortem."

"Creepy."

"I think it's fascinating. Cause of death is exsanguination."

"So he bled out? The blow that sliced off his face didn't kill him?" Danny asked.

"Well, it did, but not instantly."

"Any indication of the weapon used?" Aiden asked.

"Well, that's a little tricky, but I'm guessing something long and extremely sharp. The tissue is quite decomposed, so I'll have to boil him to get a better look at the tool marks on the bone."

"Any chance of putting the skull back together?" Aiden asked. "I could do a reconstruction of it so we can make sure the vic is the same guy as on our ID."

"I'll see what I can do," Hawkes told her.

"Keep in touch," Danny said as he and Aiden headed back to the CSI offices.


	2. Chaos & Confessions

AN Okay, this is the intro chapter to my 'A' story. It's got some Tanglewood spoilers (I think I have that right) in the sense that it's my take on the outcome of Danny's 'secret'. It moves pretty fast from here on in and I have no idea how much of it is actually believable, but I hope you find it a good story nonetheless! Let me know!  
:oP NeverMind

* * *

_"Keep in touch," Danny said as he and Aiden headed back to the CSI offices. _

* * *

The week before a major trial always made the CSI offices that much crazier and this week was no exception. Sonny Sassone, Tanglewood Boy and accused murderer of Paul Montenassi was going on trail at the end of the week and Detective Mac Taylor was going through his evidence files to make sure everything was in order. He had an appointment that day to meet with the new Assistant District Attorney who was prosecuting the case and he wanted to hand everything over to her to bring to court.

Danny was running some prints from an on-going case through AFIS when he first saw her. The woman was dressed in a navy blue skirt-suit and her dark blonde hair was tied in a loose ponytail at the back of her head. Danny couldn't believe his eyes and wandered away from his station to get a closer look. She strode purposefully through the lab, a visitor's tag clipped to her left lapel. In her right hand, she held an alligator briefcase. She caught his eye briefly and gave him a half smile. He was practically plastered against the window, his jaw hanging slightly open.

"Danny. Danny? Danny!" he heard his name through the fog in his head and turned to see Aiden standing behind him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'll be right back," was all he said before leaving the room and heading in the same direction the woman had walked.

"Detective Taylor?" the woman asked from the doorway of Mac's office.

"Yes. You must be ADA DiBiasi," he said, coming around his desk and offering her his hand. He was surprised at how young she looked, but did his best to conceal it.

She took it warmly. "That's right, but please, call me Lita. It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for letting me come down. I always prefer to get my evidence straight from the source. I've never trusted clerks very much."

Mac smiled. "Can't say I blame you. Please, have a seat."

She did as she was asked and Mac followed suit, taking his chair behind his desk. He put the lid on the box that lay open in front of him and pushed it across the desk to her.

"I've accounted for everything myself."

"Excellent. I really wish there were more to go on, though."

"You and me both. But it should be enough to convict."

She smiled. "I really need this case to be air tight, Det. Taylor," she said softly.

"I'm sorry, I can't give you that. Unfortunately, the evidence just wasn't there."

She nodded. "I'll see what I can do about that."

Mac wasn't quite sure what she meant by that, but decided to let it slide for now. "You were working in Boston before you came here, right?"

"That's right."

"You specialized in mob-related cases if I read your CV correctly."

"That's also right."

"What prompted your move to New York? From the sounds of things, you were doing quite well in Boston."

"I was. But New York's my hometown. I was starting to feel home sick, so I asked for a transfer."

"I see. And you're taking all the mob-related cases here as well?"

"Those seem to be the case files they're putting on my desk. Hopefully I can keep my success rate of convictions as high here. I'm counting on you to help me, of course," she told him.

"My CSIs are some of the best out there," Mac couldn't help but brag. For whatever reason, this woman brought out the macho in him.

"So I've heard," she grinned.

"No offense, but you seem awfully young to be in such a high position at the DA's office."

"No offense taken. I'm a bit of a child prodigy – graduated with my law degree before I'd turned 20. I already have 8 years of experience under my belt if you can believe that."

"That's amazing."

"Was there anything else I needed to know about the evidence? I've read your reports a few times already, but I want to make sure I haven't missed anything."

"Not that I can think of. But if you come across something, please don't hesitate to let me know."

"Great. I should get going. I have a long week ahead of me, and I'm sure you have enough on your plate to keep your attention." She stood and arranged the box carefully under her arm.

"Oh, leave that. I'll get one of my people to take it out to your car." Mac said.

"Thank you," she said, taking his hand. "Oh," she said, clenching his hand tight, "One request – keep Mr. Messer as far away from this case as you can."

Mac gave her a puzzled, concerned look. "Why?"

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "He hasn't told you? I see. Well, I better leave him to that, then." She released his hand. "I need to make one more stop in your building. Tell your employee to meet me in the lobby with the box, if you would be so kind."

Mac nodded. "Good to meet you."

"Same here." She opened the door to find Danny standing there, staring at her.

She put a hand on his face and kissed his cheek. "Hi, Danny," she said, looked him intently in the eyes for a moment and walked away.

He stood there, dumbfounded. Mac walked past him to give the evidence box and detailed instructions to a trusted intern standing nearby.

"Danny," Mac said to him. He spun around to look at his boss. "Come in here."

Danny plopped down in the chair that Lita had just vacated.

"Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?" Mac asked.

"What?" Danny said, Mac's words not registering.

"Do you know ADA DiBiasi?"

"DiBiasi? She took her grandmother's name," Danny muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Lita, she took her grandmother's name. Her real name is Giambi."

"Okay, wait, back up. How do you know her?" Mac asked, genuinely puzzled.

"We grew up together. She's a… mob princess."

"A mob princess?" Mac had a hard time believing that.

"Yeah, as in granddaughter of Carlito Giambi."

"I don't understand, why does she only prosecute mob-related cases then?"

"Because she was sick and tired of the mob abusing their power. She and her grandfather fought for weeks about her going into law, but he couldn't say 'no' to her. She convinced him that the law was just the mob done right."

"And you've been in love with her for how long?" Mac asked pointedly.

Danny looked up at him in surprise. He didn't think he'd been that obvious.

"It's written all over your face," Mac said with a grin.

Danny hung his head. "Since we were 10 years old. We dated for a while when I was in high school."

"And then she moved to Boston?"

"Something like that."

"She's prosecuting the Tanglewood case," Mac said.

"She is?" Danny asked, his heart dropping into his stomach.

"Yeah, and she told me something I found really strange. She told me I was to keep you as far away from this case as possible. Do you have any idea why she would say that?"

Danny gaped at him, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

Just then Stella burst into Mac's office. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem."

The three CSIs raced down to the lobby floor where they found general chaos. Detective Flack was yelling at a number of officers, all of them trying to regain some order. The intern from the CSI lab was sprawled on the floor, blood gushing out of his head. ADA Lita DiBiasi was sitting on the ground with her hand on her throat; her briefcase split open and her papers everywhere. Mac and Danny raced towards her while Stella tried to help Flack calm people down.

"What happened?" Mac asked Lita, giving her a visual once over to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Get him away from here," she whispered to him, nodding at Danny who was crouched there, looking completely helpless.

"Danny," Mac said firmly, "See if David is okay."

"No," Lita said to him. "He can't be here at all. He will compromise this case."

"If this is about the subway incident…" Mac started, ready to defend his protégé.

"No, this has nothing to do with that. If you don't send him away now, he will compromise this case by ending up dead," she said, her eyes scanning the room to see if her attacker was still there.

Now Mac was worried. He looked at Danny, who had his fingers on David's pulse point. He shook his head – David didn't make it.

"Are you okay?" Mac asked Lita.

"Yes. Get him out of here, now," she said firmly.

Mac stood up and took Danny by the elbow and rushed him out of the room. He looked behind him at Stella who gave him an annoyed, perplexed look.

"What..?" Danny asked.

Mac shoved him into a vacant office and slammed the door.

"You tell me everything. Now. No more bullshit, Danny."

"Mac, I…"

"Save it. This woman seems convinced that you are connected with the Tanglewood case somehow and that if I let you anywhere near it – or her – you will end up dead. Now I want to know why and I want to know right now. What am I dealing with?"

Danny cringed and sat down heavily on the desk. "I ran with Tanglewood, for a bit," he said through clenched teeth. "Sassone and I have plenty of history. Lita – she, well she basically got me out of it. I couldn't help but fall in love with her and it made me want to make something of myself but I knew that wouldn't happen if I was still involved with the gang. They were starting to get too cocky, ya know, like the law couldn't touch them or something. I spent weeks trying to figure out what to do when all of a sudden Sonny said it was clear for me to get my 'out' date. I tried to find out what had changed, but all Sonny would tell me was that Lita had been very 'convincing'. To this day I still have no idea what she did, but I couldn't live with the thought that I had made her do something, anything, for Sonny just to get me out. So I broke it off with her. Then all of a sudden she's in Boston and that's the last time I saw her until today."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"You should have told me, Danny," Mac said, obvious disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah right, what was I supposed to say? Hey, Mac, I used to be in a gang, want to hire me?"

"That's exactly what you should've said."

"Would you still have hired me?"

"I don't know." Mac left him in the office and went back out to the lobby to start processing the case.

Danny hung his head. He felt like all he'd done in the last year was disappoint Mac and it was starting to grate on him. He walked out of the office to see if he could help.

"Danny!" Mac yelled at him. "Get back upstairs and finish the face case. After that you're on leave."

They stared each other down for a moment before Danny backed off and retreated back up to the lab with his tail between his legs.

* * *

Aiden was pacing the floor in front of the elevator when Danny got back up. They hadn't let her downstairs after the commotion had started "What's going on?" she asked him. 

"There was a shooting. David's dead. The evidence on Sonny Sassone is gone." Danny said blankly.

"Oh no. What about that woman?"

"She's fine. Mac and Stella are working it. We need to finish the face case," he said, starting to walk away.

Aiden grabbed his arm. "Danny, are you okay? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"You are such a liar! Danny, I'm your friend – you can tell me."

He shook his head. "No, Aiden, I can't. Let's finish this case."

Aiden looked helplessly at him as he walked back to the computer where he had been trying to match fingerprints.


	3. Clever Dr Hawkes

AN I apologize if there doesn't seem to be any emotional consistency between the 'A' and 'B' stories, but I figure Danny's a master of avoidance and denial so he would compartmentalize his life and his emotions, especially re: cases. I've seen the CSI writers do this quite often, so I'm really just following their lead. Yeah, right, whatever. LOL. I really like writing the banter between Danny, Aiden & Flack, which is probably why I like the 'B' story so much more... Anyway, you tell me what you like!

SpriteSweetheart - thanks for the encouragment! Hope you like this chapter too!  
:oP NeverMind

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_"You are such a liar! Danny, I'm your friend – you can tell me."_

_He shook his head. "No, Aiden, I can't. Let's finish this case."_

_Aiden looked helplessly at him as he walked back to the computer where he had been trying to match fingerprints. _

* * *

The next day, Danny and Aiden were back at the coroner's office. 

"Well, here you have it," Hawkes said to them, flourishing as he showed them the boiled white pieces of the skull off their victim.

"I thought there would be more pieces than this," Aiden said.

"So did I, but it turns out that our victim was sliced at an angle. Whatever was used caught the top of his hairline and didn't start cutting bone until just below the brow line. Here you have it," he said, pointing at the pieces. "Brow line to upper jaw and the lower jaw."

"Missed the brain completely," Danny marveled, picking up the pieces to examine them more closely.

"Was it only one cut?" Aiden asked.

"Yes. Phenomenal. The blade must have been razor sharp to cut through the bone like this. No hacking whatsoever, just one clean swipe," Hawkes said, swiping through the air with an imaginary sword.

"So this was no knife," Danny observed.

"No way. At first I was thinking machete, but it seemed way too bulky to have made such a clean cut. That's when I decided to compare the tool marks on the bone to this," he reached under a white sheet and pulled out a long, thin, slightly curved sword.

"It's a samurai sword. Double edged and, if sharpened correctly and applied with the right amount of force, sharp and powerful enough to slice through bone." He passed the weapon to Aiden.

"The tool marks match up exactly. I would say that a sword like this is your murder weapon."

Aiden was holding the sword in her hands and slowly swinging it first down and across and then up.

"Which way do you think the sword cut? Up towards the forehead or down towards the chin?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" Hawkes asked.

"Well, yeah, because look…" she walked over to the biologist's skeleton hanging in the corner. "If you slice downward, you have the force of gravity to help you, right? But would you be able to have the same kind of precision as the cut we see on our vic? How would you get all the way under the chin without cutting his whole head off?"

Danny took the sword from her to continue the reenactment. "But if he were slicing upwards…" he took a slow upward swing at the skeleton's head. "You'd easily slice the face the way we see it without cutting the head off."

"Who would do this kind of thing?" Aiden wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but he would have to have some kind of training in samurai sword play, it would seem," Hawkes offered.

Danny pointed the sword at him. "Bang on. Let's go see if Flack turned up any ninjas in his interviews."

* * *

"You're looking for what?" Flack asked Danny and Aiden. 

"Ninjas, samurais – you know, Jackie Chan types," Aiden said.

"Jackie Chan's not a ninja or a samurai, I don't think," Flack told her.

"And I don't think he uses a sword," Danny agreed.

"Cut it out, both of you. You know what I mean," Aiden grinned.

"Well, if you mean Asians, yes, I interviewed lots of those. None of them struck me as sword fanatics, though."

"Well, according to my research, there are more samurai swords in the USA than there are in Japan. Apparently, a lot of servicemen brought them back as souvenirs after the Pacific War, during the Japan occupation," Danny said.

"Oo, 'according to my research,'" Aiden mocked him.

He pinched her side.

"Ow!"

"As I was saying – we're probably looking for a white person with a Japan obsession," Danny finished.

Flack grinned. "I know just who we should talk to."


	4. Cut to the Chase

AN Okay, I had to do a lot of exposition in this chapter, and I'm still not entirely happy with the way it all came out. It's pretty unrealistic, as far as I'm concerned, but I guess that's the beauty of fiction, isn't it? Anyway, it was the easiest way to explain the situation without dragging it out, so please forgive me if this chapter feels a little choppy. Any suggestions for how to make this flow better are appreciated!  
:oP NeverMind

_

* * *

Flack grinned. "I know just who we should talk to."_

_

* * *

_

Back in the lab, Mac and Stella were processing the evidence from the shootout in their lobby that killed their intern. Mac had been stoic and distant the whole day.

"Anything?" Stella asked, indicating the bullet Hawkes had pulled out of David that Mac was running through IBIS.

Mac just shook his head. "Not yet."

"So what's up with you and Danny?" she asked casually.

"Nothing."

"Yeah right. You hauled him into an empty office yesterday and then sent him up here like a disciplined teenager and told him he was going on leave after he finished the face case. Something is definitely up."

Mac sighed heavily. "Did I make a mistake hiring him?" he asked her.

"I don't think so. He's good at what he does, even if he does screw up on occasion."

"The subway incident was more than just a screw up."

"That was out of character for Danny and you know it. Have you ever asked him why he panicked like that?"

"All he would say was that he 'followed procedure.'" Mac rubbed at his eyes. He'd been losing sleep over this.

"But you think you know why now?" Stella ventured.

"He used to be a Tanglewood Boy," Mac finally told her.

"What? As in the same gang as the guy we're supposed to be prosecuting at the end of the week?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't he tell you?"

"He said, and I quote, 'What was I supposed to say, Hey Mac, I used to be in a gang, want to hire me?'"

Stella couldn't help but grin at that. "Okay, but what does all this have to do with the case? I mean, he didn't even work on it."

"No, but he and the prosecutor used to be an item. She has told me to keep him as far away from this case – and her– as possible because she thinks he could end up dead."

"Why would Sonny Sassone want Danny dead?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Lita did get Danny out of Tanglewood."

"Oh. How?"

"Danny doesn't know, but he felt so guilty about it that he ended their relationship."

"One doesn't just leave a gang like that quietly."

"Danny did."

"Wow. So either Lita has some serious connections or…"

"Exactly. Danny did call her a mob princess, though."

"So she might have the connections."

"She might, but she's been prosecuting nothing but mob-related cases for years. I can't imagine that that's put her in very good stead with her grandfather's cronies."

"Who's her grandfather?"

"Carlito Giambi."

"He's a big gun."

"Yeah."

"She must really care about Danny."

"That's the impression I'm getting."

"And Sassone… knows Lita would do anything for Danny."

"Like drop the case," Mac mused, the pieces starting to fall together in his head.

"So he's got our evidence and now he knows she's prosecuting. He might try to use Danny for leverage," Stella said, starting to understand the gravity of the situation.

"This is bad. I need to get him into protective custody," Mac said, obvious concern in his voice.

"Have you talked to Lita yet?"

"Not since yesterday."

"Maybe we ought to get her side of the story before we do anything rash."

Mac nodded. "You're probably right. All the excitement may be making me blow this out of proportion."

"Let's hope so."

* * *

Mac and Stella were shown into Lita's moderate office by a pretty young legal assistant. Lita was already making her way around her overflowing desk towards them. 

"I've been expecting you," she said with a smile, taking each of their hands in turn.

Stella noticed something on Lita's neck and moved her hair away to get a better look. "That happen yesterday?" she asked, indicating the black bruise.

Lita pushed the hair on the other side of her face away to reveal a matching bruise. "The shooter decided to get personal with me," she explained.

Mac's brow furrowed a little deeper. "Did you know him?"

"Oh yes. One of Sonny's cronies. He hadn't expected to see me, but he'd been given an order, so he tried to follow it through. Couldn't bring himself to shoot me, though, so he decided to try to strangle me instead. Didn't do a very good job of that either. I've already had him picked up. Unfortunately, he'd already got rid of the evidence. I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet, but once I do, he'll learn that he needs to be more afraid of me than of Sonny."

Mac and Stella sat down in the leather chairs in front of her desk. Lita rearranged her piles of paper so that she could actually see them both. "So," she said when she was satisfied. "How can I help you today?"

"Well, we just have a few questions for you," Mac started.

She tilted her head slightly. "Did he finally tell you?" she asked.

Mac nodded. "Called you a mob princess," he said. It sounded a little funny to say it out loud.

She smiled. "Danny has an exaggerated opinion of me."

"So you're not a mob princess?" Stella asked.

"I wouldn't call myself a princess. My grandfather is what some have called the 'godfather' of the Giambi family, but he hasn't been involved in organized crime since I was five."

"What happened when you were five?" Stella asked.

"My parents were killed in a mob hit. Some kid who'd been given 'orders' came and shot them in front of me. Turns out he got the marks wrong. And guess who'd given the original order? My grandfather. Ironic, isn't it? A man who orders people to die accidentally has his own son killed. He was devastated and vowed never to order another hit as long as he lived. He even made all of his associates swear on their own blood that they would never order another hit." Her voice had grown quiet as she told the story. "I don't think I'll ever forget that day.They stood around me in a room, sliced their hands open and swore that they would never have another person killed. 'This little girl is a reminder that there is a better way to do business,' my grandfather had said."

Mac and Stella couldn't help but think that Lita had aged in that moment as she remembered that story.

"He had me sit with him during every family meeting from then on. All those men are like uncles to me. So I guess if that's what makes me a 'mob princess' then I am. I just always thought that my unfortunate circumstances have given me a responsibility to make sure what happened to me never happens to anyone else."

"Danny said you fought with your grandfather when you decided to get into law," Mac said.

She sat back in her chair with a smile. "I'm sure they could hear us blocks away. We screamed at each other for a week. He was afraid that I would come after him or after his friends. I told him that when he had made that oath over me; he had destined that I do this. I eventually convinced him that this was the right thing for me to do. It was hard for him, but he agreed. He made me promise not to start in New York and I made him promise to help me get Danny out of Tanglewood."

"And you both kept your promises."

"The mob does have some redeeming qualities, Detective Taylor."

"So it was your grandfather who pulled the strings to get Danny out," Stella observed.

"Sonny and his father are a lot of big talk, but they could never handle the pressure of my grandfather – as old as he was even then."

"But I thought your grandfather didn't order hits."

"He doesn't, but he's still a very convincing man. Especially when you've asked him to invest in your business to the point where he pretty much owns it."

"So why Danny? And why did you never tell him any all of this?" Mac wanted to know.

She grinned. "Danny is the only guy I've ever met who genuinely wanted to improve himself because he cared about me. I'll never forget that. But Danny is also a very proud guy. He couldn't handle the thought that I had done anything to get him out of Tanglewood; if I had told him it was my grandfather who pulled the strings, he would have flipped. Owing me is one thing, owing my grandfather is a much bigger deal."

"So what about the case? All our evidence is gone," Stella said.

"I wouldn't worry about it. It'll show up again," Lita said.

"How can you be so sure?" Mac asked.

A dark look came over her face. "Sonny has never been the brightest bulb in the box. He's already made the mistake of sending his stupidest counterpart to do his dirty work. I'll have that guy singing in less than an hour, I can promise you that."

"And what about Danny?" Stella ventured.

Lita sighed. "Danny was definitely my biggest risk factor when I agreed to take this case. Sonny knows how much I hate the Tanglewood gang, so for me to go out of my way to help one of their members must mean I care about him a lot."

"So he might try to use him as leverage to get you to drop the case," Mac finished her thought.

She nodded. "That's why I told you to keep him as far away from this case as you could."

"I'm thinking of putting him into protective custody," Mac said.

She nodded again. "That might be a good idea. I want to talk to Bobby first, see what else Sonny has up his sleeve. I'll give you call and let you know how serious he is. You can make the call from there."

"Is there anything else we can do to help?" Stella asked.

"Process any new evidence you get as quickly as you can," Lita said.

"New evidence?" Mac asked.

"In my world, hurting the godfather's granddaughter is still a pretty big deal. I wouldn't be surprised if some things started popping up."

"Will it all be kosher?" Stella asked, dubious.

Lita laughed. "Don't worry, Detective Bonassera. When I told everyone that the law was just the mob done right, a lot of them actually took me seriously." She stood and the two detectives followed her lead. "Do you have some time? We could go talk to Bobby right now. He's in a holding cell just down the street."

"Sure. Let's do that," Mac said. "I have some questions of my own for him."


	5. Tension Rising

AN Wow! Thanks for the reviews and liking the story so far. Here's a little more for your reading pleasure. Just remember, I warned you it moved fast!  
:oP NeverMind

* * *

_"Sure. Let's do that," Mac said. "I have some questions of my own for him."_

* * *

Flack took Danny and Aiden to a karate dojo in Midtown, a few blocks away from the Time Warner Centre on Columbus Ave.

"I was checking Mr. Wallace's background and discovered that he's been taking classes here for the last couple of years. Recently, according to the teacher, he's taken up sword play," Flack explained.

"I finished the reconstruction and I've positively identified the vic as Raymond Wallace," Aiden said. "So at least we know we're on the right track."

They walked into the dojo to find a half dozen people practicing Tai Chi. An instructor came over to them.

"Detective Flack, good to see you again. Our sword master, Gary Reese, is in today. Let me take you to him," the man said.

Gary Reese was in a back room, performing precise moves with a long samurai sword. The way he held the sword seemed untypical to the trio. Rather than holding it with the blade facing downward, he held it backhanded so that the blade faced up.

"Mr. Reese, I'm Detective Flack, NYPD. These are CSIs Danny Messer and Aiden Burn. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your pupil, Raymond Wallace."

Gary Reese bowed to them rather than shaking their hands. "Yes, I'm terribly sorry about what happened to him. Do you have any idea who might have killed him?"

"Well, you look like a good candidate," Danny quipped.

"And why is that?" Reese asked.

"Because Mr. Wallace had his face sliced off with a weapon just like yours," Aiden said.

"Well, all of my students do have their own swords and I demand that they are kept in pristine condition," Reese explained.

"And do you teach them all to hold the sword the way you do?" Flack asked.

Reese looked down at his hand that was holding the sword. "No, Detective, I don't. I am just perfecting this way of handling the sword myself. I wouldn't dream of teaching it to my students yet."

"Maybe you have someone who's a fast learner," Danny said. "Can I see your sword?"

"Sure," Reese said, handing it to him almost ceremonially.

Danny gave him a queer look, then examined the blade with his eyes. Aiden took a swab and her chemicals out. She rubbed the swab down the length of the blade and dripped Phenolphthalien over it. The swab's colour didn't change.

"Do you have any other swords?" Flack asked.

"I have quite a few swords. I am a sword master, after all," Reese tried to joke.

"We'll need to see all of them," Aiden said with a sweet smile.

"Most of them are at home," he said. "I don't know if I'm comfortable…"

"We could get a court order," Danny said.

"But then we'll have to tear your place apart," Flack said. "If we go do this now, we'll just test your swords and be out of your hair."

Reese looked defeated. He led them to his apartment, which happened to be on the floor above the dojo.

"Wow," Aiden marveled at the numerous swords displayed throughout the apartment. "This could take a while."

"Let's get to it," Danny said.

As Danny and Aiden processed the swords, Flack took the opportunity to ask Reese some questions. "So, where were you four nights ago?"

"Uh, I taught at the dojo downstairs till about 8:00, then I went to Shannon's by the Park for drinks with some friends."

"And after that?" Flack prompted.

"After that, I went home."

"Did you take a cab?"

"No, I had my car with me."

It took Danny and Aiden another 15 minutes to get through all 20 swords, but they came up with nothing.

"Is this all of them?" Danny asked.

"Yeah – except for the ones in my car," Reese told him.

Aiden rolled her eyes and sighed in disgust.

"Where is your car?" Flack asked.

"Downstairs in the parkade."

"Let's go."

In Reese's trunk they found five more swords. Danny and Aiden split them up and got to work.

"Do you have any more swords anywhere else?" Flack wanted to know.

"No, this is it."

"Flack?" Aiden said.

"Yeah?"

She held up the bright pink swab.

"What? What is that?" Reese wanted to know.

"She just found evidence of blood on your sword," he said, cuffing the man's hands behind his back. "Gary Reese, you're under arrest for the murder of Raymond Wallace." He read him his rights and took him to the squad car while Danny and Aiden carefully bagged the swords and their sheaths. Danny called in to have the car towed and they all headed back downtown.

A few hours later in the interrogation room, Flack and Danny had at their suspect.

"So I tracked down a few of your friends that you went drinking with the night of the murder. Turns out Raymond Wallace was with you that night. In fact, you had brought him there."

"And, the blood we found on your sword matched Raymond's. We also found a rag full of his blood stuffed into the corner of your trunk. Can you explain how that got there?" Danny said.

"I…" Reese sighed heavily. "Ray started coming to my sword classes a few months ago. We became friends. We hung out quite often after class."

"That doesn't explain the blood," Danny said.

"Last week, he and I had way too much to drink and we decided to spar in the park. Things got carried away and I accidentally nicked him."

"Really," Flack said dryly. "Where did you nick him?"

"On his leg. It bled pretty bad. I used the rag to help stop the bleeding," Reese tried.

"Danny, did the autopsy report say anything about a 'nick' on Mr. Wallace's leg?" Flack asked.

"Nope. Just said his face was sliced off," Danny answered.

"That's what I thought. See, there's only two things about your story that don't add up for me. First, the nick on his leg. We've already proved that that's not true. Second, you say this happened a week ago. Now, if there's no nick on his leg, that can't be true either. See, the way I figure, the only way Wallace's blood could end up on your sword is if you sliced his face off four days ago."

"Yeah. The only thing I can't figure out is why. That's more than just a slip of the wrist. You seem to be in more control of your swords than that," Danny said.

"Do I need a lawyer?" Reese asked.

"I don't know, do you?" Flack retorted.

"Come on, Mr. Reese. I can see this is bothering you. Just tell us what happened. Confession is good for the soul," Danny prompted.

"You were sparring in the park after a night of drinking," Flack started the story for him.

Reese looked back and forth between the two men, trying to weigh his options, but he was weak and he felt guilty, so with a look down at the table, he started in. "Ray had way more to drink than I did, so I was taking it easy on him. He's only been doing swordplay for a few months, so I'm obviously a lot better than him. He started talking about this girl he had got with the night before. Said she was a real bombshell. The more he talked about her, the more I couldn't help but think that it was the girl I've been dating the last half-year. When he said her name, I knew for sure that it was. I just – I snapped. I had spent a whole half-year just working up the nerve to talk to this girl and another half-year trying to figure out a way to move our relationship to the next level and he just – he waltzed in and had her, just like that. I couldn't – I couldn't believe it! So I started actually fighting him and he panicked. He couldn't keep up. I had intended to take his head off – the way a real samurai would – but I was using this new backhand technique and I didn't catch him at the right angle…"

Danny looked at him in disbelief. "You didn't catch him at the right angle," he repeated with disgust. "Listen man, as far as I know, real samurai didn't kill because his feelings were hurt – he killed because it was in his job description. You're nothing but a fake – and a bad one at that." He slammed his files shut, got up and walked out of the room.

Mac and Aiden were both walking toward him down the hall, but he could tell by each of their expressions that they hadn't actually talked to each other. Aiden had her 'We closed another case successfully' look on and Mac had his 'You are not going to like this' face. Danny preferred Aiden at the moment.

Down the hall in the other direction, two undercover police officers were approaching. Danny watched Aiden's face fall and confusion start to register.

"Danny, I need to get you into protective custody," Mac was saying as the two policemen put their hands on Danny's elbows.

"What?" Danny asked, his mind racing, trying to figure out what he'd done now.

"Mac, what's going on?" Aiden asked.

"Danny's life is being threatened by a former gang friend of his and I need to make sure nothing happens to him," Mac explained coldly.

"What? Gang? Danny, what's he talking about?" Aiden asked, searching Danny's eyes for an explanation other than the one that was starting to form in her brain.

"Come on, Danny," Mac said. "Lita's orders."

"Mac, wait…" Aiden called as the troupe started walking away. "Danny!" she called out.

Danny just looked at her with a mix of sadness and apology.

As the elevator doors closed behind them, Aiden turned to find Stella at her side.

"Stella, what's going on? What's this about Danny's gang friend? I don't understand."

"Come with me," was all Stella said. She brought Aiden behind the glass of one of their interrogation rooms. Inside, ADA Lita DiBiasi was sitting across the table from Sonny Sassone who was handcuffed to the table and giving her a cocky smile.

"Surprised to see me?" Lita asked.

"A little. I'd heard you'd come back. Didn't think they'd give you my case, though."

"Unfortunate for you," she said.

"Oh, I don't know. I'd say it was pretty unfortunate for you, sweetheart. It's been a long time since you were last in New York. My little 'rabble' as you used to call us, has quite a bit of clout now," he bragged.

"Ah," she said knowingly. "Trying to outrank me now, are you? All you've ever had was a rabble, Sonny. I mean seriously – sending Bobby to do your dirty work? I had him crying like a baby after two minutes of simply staring at him."

"Well, unlike some men, who shall remain Danny and Bobby, I'm not in love with or afraid of you. And if I had known you were prosecuting me beforehand, I wouldn't have sent Bobby," Sonny qualified.

"Who would you have sent? Carlos? My grandfather owns his family. He wouldn't come near me with a ten-foot pole. And you should be afraid of me, Sonny. You should be very afraid. I have years of grudges built up with you. I got into law because I couldn't touch you back in the day when you tried to rape me. Now, you've played right into my hands."

"And that's another thing. My lawyer will drown you with our history."

"Your lawyer, if he's worth half his salt, will tell you to keep your mouth shut about our history because it will only make you look worse than you already do."

Sonny glowered at her for a while. "I still have another ace up my sleeve," he hissed at her.

"Let me guess – Danny. You don't think I would have counted on that from day one? You don't think that I would have made sure he was as far away from this as possible? You know, you're more stupid than I remember."

"You still don't have your evidence," he said haughtily.

"Oh no? That's funny. I seem to remember Detective Taylor telling me that it had all mysteriously reappeared on his desk today – along with some new evidence that makes my case pretty much air-tight." She pulled her hair away from her neck, revealing her bruises. "Bobby shouldn't have touched me," she said softly.

She stared him down for a few moments and let the gravity of her words sink in. "Starting to get that sinking feeling, Sonny?" she asked.

He glared at her. "I will win this," he said.

"You can certainly try," she said, indicating to an officer to take Sonny away. "But I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"I wanna see him," Aiden said to Stella in a low voice.

"I'll see what I can do," she told her.

* * *

Danny was pacing the hotel room, yelling at his boss. "What the hell is going on here? You don't just snatch me away from work and put me in custody like this! What the hell did I do this time, Mac? I told you about my involvement with Tanglewood – wasn't that enough for you? Just fire me already, Mac, then I'll be out of your hair!"

"This is for your own good, Danny," Mac said calmly.

"My own good? My own good! Leaving Lita unprotected and locking me up here is for my own good? What are you, dumb? It's her he's after! I need to make sure nothing happens to her! He's already tried to kill her once!"

"But you're the leverage, Danny."

"What do you mean, I'm the leverage? I don't understand anything that's going on here! What the hell is she doing back here anyway and why in god's name would they even _think _of giving her the Tanglewood case? I mean, it's not like they don't know who she is!"

"Danny, you need to calm down. You're jumping all over the place. I can't talk to you like this."

"Like this? You're the one who put me here! Why is she always trying to protect me from that guy? I can take care of myself!"

"Danny – shut up and sit down," Aiden said from the doorway. Her dark eyes were on fire and her body was alive with tension.

Danny was so shocked by her appearance that he did what he was told.

"How are you connected with Sonny Sassone?" she demanded.

"I used to run with Tanglewood," he told her, his nervousness increasing.

"How do you know the ADA?"

"We used to date."

"How did you get out of Tanglewood?"

"She got me out."

"Aiden," Mac interrupted, "You shouldn't be here."

"I need some answers!" she snapped at him. "You lied to me," she accused Danny.

"I didn't lie," he tried to protest.

"You didn't tell me what was going on. That day of the shooting, you didn't tell me you might be in trouble. I could've helped you."

"How? How could you help me, Aiden? By getting killed yourself? That's no help to me."

"I could've – I could've done something!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "Why am I always kept in the dark? I'm not a little kid! I thought we were supposed to be a team!"

"We are a team, Aiden," Danny said.

"No! This is not a team! This is a bunch of individuals lying to each other and shutting each other out because of pride! I trusted you!" she fired at him.

"So what? So I didn't tell you I was in a gang. What? You need to know every detail of my life? What else do you want to know? That I have a foot fetish and have to sleep with a nightlight? Is that what you want, Aiden?"

"Shut up, both of you," Stella interjected. "Look – this has been a crazy week for all of us. Here's what's gonna happen, plain and simple. Danny, you're staying here in protective custody until this trial is over and I don't care whether you like it or not. Lita obviously takes Sassone seriously enough to think this is necessary, and therefore, so do we. Aiden, you're going to come back to the lab and help Mac and me finish processing the evidence on Sassone. We'll lock you and Danny in a room to have at each other another time." She looked at each person in the room to make sure they had understood her clearly. "Let's go."


	6. You Haven't Changed

* * *

AN So, after all that build-up I hope you don't find this chapter too anticlimactic. I just couldn't figure out a way to end it without it being too ridiculous or drawn out. Now, this is technically the last chapter BUT I do have a bit of an epilogue that gives it a nice, melodramatic finish...If you're interested, of course! I won't post it till you give me the word!  
:oP NeverMind

* * *

The trail lasted less than two weeks and Sassone was sentenced to 15 years to life for the second-degree murder of Paul Montenassi. Lita proved why she was so good at mob-related cases. She knew all the buttons to push and the exact moments to push them. She had Sassone and his team backed so far into a corner there was no way they were going to get out. Her evidence was damaging, her witnesses were convincing and her closing speech so powerful that the jury convicted in less than two hours.

By the time Danny was finally allowed back at work, he and Aiden still hadn't made up. She was still quite mad at him.

"Aiden," he said, his week and a half down time having made him contrite, "I'm sorry. I should've said – something. I don't know. I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"Well, you did hurt me, Danny. I just – I look up to you, you know? I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I promise, I'll never lie to you again," he said, putting one hand over his heart and one hand in the air.

She couldn't help but grin at that. "Don't make promises you can't keep," she said. "I forgive you – for now. Now you better get over to interrogation. I think your girlfriend's waiting for you."

Danny tensed at that. He had thought about Lita a lot, but hadn't really expected to see her so soon. Assuming, of course, that's whom Aiden was talking about.

He opened the door to find Lita sitting at the table, looking over the past week's trial transcript.

"Danny Messer," she said without looking up. "I'm glad you haven't changed."

He stood at the door, not entirely sure what to do. She looked up at him. "It's okay to sit down. I won't bite."

He eased into the chair next to her as she folded up her papers and put them into her briefcase.

She looked at him affectionately. "It's been a long time," she said softly, folding her hands in front of her.

He just nodded. All he could think about was how much he'd been in love with her.

"I'm – I'm sorry about the past couple of weeks. I, uh, I had kind of hoped it wouldn't get that bad," she said.

He shrugged. "It's okay. I'm glad it all worked out."

She nodded. "Well, this is kind of weird. I had kind of thought that you would be the best part of coming home. But you're still too proud, aren't you?"

"Lita, I…"

"Oh, I know, I know," she sighed. "You still haven't figured out that everything I've done is because I care about you, and just because I have more connections than you do doesn't make you less of a man."

"I just…" he started, looking down at his hands. "Ever since we arrested Sonny, I've been coming undone, Lita. Feels like…after I broke up with you."

"I know, sweetheart," she said quietly. She put her hand over his. "It's over now."

He rubbed her palm with his thumb, still not making eye contact with her.

She sat there for a little while, trying to decide what to do. Finally, she stood up and put one of her business cards in front of him. "Give me a call sometime," she said. "Let's do coffee." She bent down to kiss his forehead. "Bye, Danny."


	7. Decision Time

AN Okay, here it is - the chapter I wrote because I'm a fangirl and I can! LOL! Dream thought it was a little unrealistic for an actual CSI:NY episode, and I was forced to agree, which is why I sort of left it as acliffhanger in the last chapter. But hey - I like a tidy ending as much as the next girl, so - because you asked for it - here it is! Enjoy!  
:oP NeverMind

* * *

He listened as the door closed behind her. He fingered her business card, his mind racing over everything she'd said. 

Then he decided. He got up and headed downstairs. He asked in the lobby where she had parked and headed down to the parkade. He jogged towards her spot. She was just putting her briefcase in the backseat.

"Lita," he said when he was a few strides away from her. She turned to face him and he caught her up and kissed her – hard and deep.

"I haven't been kissed like that in a long time," she said when they'd pulled away.

"I don't deserve you," he told her, caressing her hair.

She chuckled. "Whoever said anything about you needing to 'deserve' me?" she asked.

"No one but me," he told her, kissing her gently.

"Exactly." She relaxed into their embrace. "When are you off?" she asked into his shoulder.

"8:00."

"My address is on the back of that card," she said. "I'll see you later?"

He nodded. "Couldn't keep me away."

"No one had better – they don't want to mess with me!"

Danny chuckled. "Mob princess," he accused her softly.

"Boyfriend of a mob princess," she countered with a sly look. "Go back to work."

* * *

**Epilogue**

When Danny got back to work after the weekend, Aiden was already there, trying to catch up on cases that had gotten behind when they were short staffed.

"You look happy," she commented as he put on his white lab coat.

He just shrugged. "I am happy."

"You know, Messer, I hate to say it, but love looks good on you," Aiden teased.

He looked over his glasses at her grinning mischievously at him and shook his head. "Thank you. Can we get back to work now?"


End file.
